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Business Economy India News

India to touch 316.06 million tonnes record in food grain production

The sugarcane production is estimated at 414.04 MT while cotton is estimated at 34.06 million bales (each of 170 kg) and jute and mesta are 9.57 million bales (each of 180 kg)…reports Asian Lite News

Record food grains production of 316.06 million tonnes (MT) is estimated, as per the Second Advance Estimates of production of major crops for 2021-22, released by the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry on Wednesday.

This is higher by 5.32 million tonnes than production of food grain during 2020-21 and the production during 2021-22 is higher by 25.35 million tonnes than the previous five years’ (2016-17 to 2020-21) average production of food grains, a Ministry statement said.

As per the 2nd Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major crops during 2021-22 is: rice: 127.93 MT, wheat: 111.32 MT; nutri/coarse cereals: 49.86 MT, maize: 32.42 MT, pulses: 26.96 MT, tur: 4.00 MT, and gram: 13.12 MT.

Among the oilseeds, the total estimated production is 37.15 MT comprising groundnut: 9.86 MT; soyabean: 13.12 MT, and rapeseed and mustard: 11.46 MT.

The sugarcane production is estimated at 414.04 MT while cotton is estimated at 34.06 million bales (each of 170 kg) and jute and mesta are 9.57 million bales (each of 180 kg).

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the new record of food grains production in the country is the result of hard work of farmers, efficient research of scientists and farmer-friendly policies of the government.

Total production of rice during 2021-22 is higher by 11.49 MT than the last five years’ average production of 116.44 MT, of wheat higher by 7.44 MT than the average production of 103.88 MT, of nutri/coarse cereals higher by 3.28 MT, and of pulses by 3.14 MT than the last five years’ average production of 23.82 MT.

Total oilseeds production during 2021-22 is higher by 1.20 MT than the production of 35.95 MT during 2020-21, and higher by 4.46 MT than the average oilseeds production.

Total production of sugarcane in the country during 2021-22 is higher by 40.59 MT than the average production of 373.46 MT, and of cotton by 1.12 million bales than the average production of 32.95 million bales, the release said.

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India News Tech Lite Technology

Maruti Suzuki reports marginal increase in production

“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month,” the company said in a statement…reports Asian Lite News

Automobile giant Maruti Suzuki India reported a rise in production during last month on a year-on-year basis.

The rise comes despite a major microchip shortage that has hindered production all throughout last year.

In January 2022, the company’s total production of passenger, as well as commercial vehicles, rose to 161,383 units from 160,975 units manufactured during the corresponding month of last year.

Segment-wise, the company produced 157,668 units of passenger vehicles during the month under review, up from 156,439 units manufactured in January 2021.

“The shortage of electronic components had a minor impact on the production of vehicles during the month,” the company said in a statement.

The global phenomenon of semiconductor shortages has been blamed on the exponential rise in demand for personal electronics such as cellphones and laptops during the ongoing pandemic. Semiconductors play a critical part in the production of internal combustion engines and are an integral part of all kinds of sensors and controls in any vehicle.

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-Top News India News

India ready to produce 5 bn Covid-19 jabs by 2022

In his address at G20 Leaders’ Summit, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s contribution in the fight against the pandemic and also mentioned medical supplies to over 150 countries, reports Asian Lite News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that once the World Health Organization (WHO) approves Covaxin, India’s indigenous vaccine against Covid-19, New Delhi can supply five billion dosages to the developing countries as its contribution to reducing jab inequities.

He made the remarks on Saturday while was speaking at the first session on ‘Global Economy and Global Health’ at the inaugural ceremony of the G20 Leaders’ Summit with the other leaders of the world’s biggest economies in Rome.

In his address, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s contribution in the fight against the pandemic and also mentioned medical supplies to over 150 countries.

“The Prime Minister conveyed that India has not only vaccinated over a billion of our citizens but more importantly, we are ready to produce over five billion vaccine dosage by the end of next year and this would be available for not only our citizens but also for the rest of the world. And that, this is our own contribution to reducing vaccine inequities, especially in the developing world,” Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told mediapersons.

“We also believe that the WHO’s approval for emergency use authorisation for Covaxin, our indigenous vaccine, pending with them, would facilitate this process of assisting other countries.”

Modi spoke about India’s vision of ‘One Earth One Health’, which is essentially the need for a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against corona pandemic, Shringla said, adding: “Collaboration in R&D to collaborations in combating pandemics, collaborations across the board in developing mechanisms that can cope with future pandemics and future global health issues.

“There was an emphasis on vaccine research, manufacturing, and innovation. We have invested a fair amount in that effort in order to make it available for our citizens and citizens all across the world.”

The Prime Minister stressed on the need for resilient global supply chains, and also mentioned India’s bold economic reforms, and the lowering of the cost of doing business in India, according to the Foreign Secretary.

He spoke about innovations in India, efforts at developing a culture of innovations. He invited the G20 countries to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

“The Prime Minister also brought out the fact that despite the challenges of the pandemic, India continued to be a trusted partner in the context of reliable supply chains, the IT sector, the BPOs, we did not allow the pandemic to come in the way of our contribution in the overall chain in the global processes.

“The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over G20’s decision to come up with the 15 per cent minimum Corporate Tax. It was at the 2014 G20 Summit that the Prime Minister had first proposed this idea of a minimum corporate tax in order to prevent to some extent the evasion of taxes.

“Today there is satisfaction over the fact that the G20 has actually adopted this. This has become a global norm. And this is a very important step in ensuring more rationalised global tax structures and better cooperation in the international domain when it comes to issues like tax evasion, money laundering, corruption and so on and so forth, some of the issues that G20 is currently dealing with,” Shringla added.

Earlier at the G20 Summit venue, Modi and the other world leaders, first interacted informally with each other, posed for a family photo, and generally exchanged pleasantries.

Modi held two bilateral meetings, with French President Emmanuel Macron and the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Prior to the G20 Summit, the Prime Minister had met Pope Francis at the Vatican and also attended a cultural event.

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

US trying to help India to produce vaccine, says Biden

With a need for several billion doses around the world, the US was committed to provide half a billion, reports Asian Lite News

The United States is helping India and other countries to be able produce the vaccines by themselves, President Joe Biden has said.

With a need for several billion doses around the world, the US was committed to provide half a billion, Biden said during a press conference at White House on Tuesday.

“We have committed to over a half a billion doses. And we’re trying to provide for more and provide for the capacity of countries like India to be able to produce the vaccine themselves. And we’re helping them do that. That’s what we’re doing now,” he said in response to a question.

“And we’re trying to…by the way, it’s free. We’re not charging anybody anything. And we’re trying to do as much as we possibly can,” he added.

In this fight against Covid-19, Biden asserted, the United States was committed to become the “arsenal of vaccines”, the manner in which it was the arsenal of democracy during World War II.

“We are backing up that commitment. We have contributed more than any other nation to COVAX as a collective global effort to deliver COVID-19 vaccines across the world. We have supported manufacturing efforts abroad through our partnerships with Japan, India, Australia – known as the Quad,” he said.

Biden said that during his trip to Europe in June, he had announced that the US would purchase a ground-breaking 500 million doses of Pfizer and donate to nearly a hundred low-and middle-income countries that don’t have the vaccine. Those doses will start to ship at the end of this month, he said.

“We also announced that we would donate 80 million doses of our own vaccine to supply the world, which has already begun,” Biden said, adding that so far, the US has shipped over 110 million doses of its vaccines to 65 countries, which are among the hardest-hit in the world.

“We will continue to give tens of millions of the doses away across the summer and work to increase US manufacturing and manufacturing of vaccines around the world as well. It is not just vaccines. We are continuing to provide countries in need with more testing, protective equipment, and personnel to stem the surge of the virus. We have done it in India and elsewhere,” the President said.

“In the race for the 21st century between democracies and autocracies, we need to prove that democracies can deliver. The democracies of the world are looking to America to lead again in two ways. First, to demonstrate we can control this virus at home. And second, to show we can help address it around the world. Vaccinate America and help vaccinate the world. That’s how we are about to beat this thing,” he added.

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India News

333 private companies into defence production in India: Centre

So far, 58 projects relating to army, navy and air force have been accorded ‘approval in principle’, Bhatt informed the House…reports Asian Lite News.

A total 333 private companies have been issued 539 industrial licences for defence production in India and out of these, 110 companies have started production.

In a written reply to Vijay Pal Singh Tomar in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt, said that the defence industry sector, which was hitherto reserved for the public sector, was opened up to 100 per cent for Indian private sector participation in May, 2001. Thereafter, many measures have been taken by the government to promote private sector participation.

Out of the total capital acquisition budget for the year 2021-22, 64.09 per cent has been earmarked for domestic capital procurement, while the defence capital outlay has been increased by 18.75 per cent in the Budget for FY 2021-22, the minister informed.

The Defence Procurement Procedure-2016 has been revised as Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020, which is driven by the tenets of the defence reforms announced as part of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (self-reliant India campaign), Bhatt said.

In order to promote indigenous design and development of defence equipment, the ‘Buy’ (Indian-IDDM or Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category has been accorded top most priority for procurement of capital equipment, he said.

The ministry has notified a ‘Positive indigenisation list’ of 209 items for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them.

This would offer a great opportunity to the Indian defence industry to manufacture these items using their own design and development capabilities to meet the requirements of the armed forces in the coming years, Bhatt said.

The ‘Make’ procedure of capital procurement has been simplified. There is a provision for funding up to 70 per cent of development cost by the government to the Indian industry under Make-I category. In addition, there are specific reservations for MSMEs under the ‘Make’ procedure.

“The procedure for ‘Make-II’ category (industry funded), introduced in DPP 2016 to encourage indigenous development and manufacture of defence equipment, has a number of industry-friendly provisions such as relaxation of eligibility criterion, minimal documentation, provision for considering proposals suggested by industry/individual etc.,” the minister said.

So far, 58 projects relating to army, navy and air force have been accorded ‘approval in principle’, Bhatt informed the House.

The government has enhanced FDI in defence sector to up to 74 per cent through the automatic route for companies seeking new defence industrial licence and up to 100 per cent by the government route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology or for other reasons to be recorded.

An innovation ecosystem for defence titled Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) has been launched in April 2018. iDEX is aimed at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in defence and aerospace.

To give a major boost to development of innovative defence technology and support a growing startup base in the country, the Ministry of Defence has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore during 2021-22 for procurement from the iDEX startups, the minister said.

The Department of Defence Production under the Ministry of Defence has also approved a scheme for Innovation in Defence Excellence (iDEX) during the current year which is worth Rs 498 crore for five years. The scheme aims to benefit 300 new startups for innovative design and development in defence sector.

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Bollywood Films

Esha Deol into a new venture

“Overwhelmed to share with you all that under the banner of Bharat Esha Films (BEF) we are launching our first film as producers — Ek Duaa,” Esha wrote on Instagram…reports Asian Lite News.

Actress Esha Deol Takhtani is stepping into a new venture. She on Monday announced Bharat Esha Films, a production house she has launched with husband Bharat Takhtani.

The first film to be backed by this production house is “Ek Duaa” directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, who earlier directed the actress in the short film “Cakewalk”. The film stars Esha in the lead.

“Overwhelmed to share with you all that under the banner of Bharat Esha Films (BEF) we are launching our first film as producers — Ek Duaa,” Esha wrote on Instagram.

Revealing what encouraged her to turn producer for the film, the actress said: “When I was approached with ‘Ek Duaa’ as an actress, I felt a deeper connect with the script. I just knew I had to support the film, the cause, and would want to be associated with it as a producer, too. It opened the doors for Bharat and me to start another innings as partners.”

“Directed by @ramkamalmukherjee Co produced by @venkysuttarafoods @venkyschicken @bharattakhtani3 @amppvtltd Coming soon on @vootselect! #BharatEshaFilms #BEF #EkDuaa,” Esha added on social media.

Journalist turned author-filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee also shared the news in a Facebook post. He wrote: “Jai Jagganath. On this auspicious day, I take immense pleasure and pride in wishing my dearest couple Esha Deol Takhtani and Bharat Takhtani for turning producer with #BharatEshaFilms. This is a very special moment for me because of Esha, who believed in me as a filmmaker since day one. We are happy to announce our first collaboration with BEF for Hindi film #EkDuaa starring Esha Deol Takhtani as main lead. The film is directed by yours truly, to be exclusively premeired on Voot Select. This film is very close to our heart, and hope it will win your hearts too!”

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-Top News COVID-19 USA

US policy change to boost vaccine production: Poonawalla

Adar Poonawalla

The US administration has announced that because of the success of US vaccine manufacturers, it is confident about supplying its authorised vaccines, reports Asian Lite News

The CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla, has said on Friday that the US policy change on vaccines will increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India and boost vaccine production.

Thanking US President Joe Biden and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for the policy change, Poonawalla tweeted, “Thanks to the efforts of @POTUS, @WhiteHouse, & @DrSJaishankar, this policy change will hopefully increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India; boosting our vaccine production capacity and strengthening our united fight against this pandemic.”

The US administration has announced that because of the success of US vaccine manufacturers, it is confident about supplying its authorised vaccines.

“As a result, we’re removing the DPA priority ratings for AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi. While the manufacturers will continue to make these three vaccines, this action will allow US-based companies that supply these vaccine manufacturers to make their own decisions on which orders to fulfil first,” the US administration said in a briefing.

“And the President has announced a US commitment to sharing a total of 80 million doses by the end of June. This is five times the number of doses any other country has committed to sharing. And these 80 million doses represent 13 per cent of the total vaccines produced by the United States by the end of this month,” it added.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “We’ve received requests from all over the world, and a number of important factors went into our decision about how to allocate these first 25 million vaccines. These factors included achieving global coverage, responding to surges and other specific urgent situations and public health needs, and helping as many countries as possible who requested vaccines.”

“Our approach also prioritises South and Southeast Asia, including countries like India, Nepal, the Philippines and others that are undergoing surges right now. It recognises our closest neighbors, Canada and Mexico, which received our first shared vaccines; and friends like the Republic of Korea, where our military shares a command. And it prioritises other partners around the world, including countries with low vaccination rates or dealing with urgent present crises, like the West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Iraq, Haiti and others,” Sullivan added.

Earlier on April 16, Poonawalla had tweeted for lifting the embargo on raw materials.

“Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details,” he had said.

SII sought indemnity from liability

Serum Institute of India has also sought indemnity from liability, expressing the hope that rules would be the same for everyone, said sources.

This comes as the Centre is favourably considering granting indemnity against legal proceedings to foreign vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna prior to their rollout in India.

“All vaccine makers, whether Indian or foreign, should be granted the same protection,” the Adar Poonawalla-led company has reportedly told the government.

“Not just Serum Institute of India (SII), all the vaccine companies should get indemnity protection against liabilities if foreign companies are granted it,” it further said.

It is learnt that Serum is hoping that rules should be same for everyone.

Besides Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine and Novovax’s Covovax, the SII has also applied to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture the Russian ‘Sputnik V’ Covid-19 vaccine in India. ‘Sputnik V’ is currently being imported by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

According to reports, the Centre is apparently considering granting indemnity to vaccine manufacturing companies if they applied for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA). Till date, no Indian vaccine company has ever paid indemnity and neither has the Central government, the biggest vaccine user, done so.

Biden (Twitter@POTUS)

Advanced trials are on for Covovax being developed in collaboration with the pharma company Novovax. Codagenix, a single-dose nasal vaccine, is in phase 1/2 trials in the UK. The third, SpyBiotech, is a novel virus-like particle vaccine, which is also in trials.

The government has so far not given any manufacturer indemnity or protection against legal action for any severe side effects.

This is a key condition put forth by foreign vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna for supplying to India.

Countries like the US have granted indemnity from liability to Covid vaccine manufacturing companies for the possibility of something going wrong with their vaccines. They cannot be sued for compensation if there are any adverse effects from the shot.

Dr V.K. Paul, the head of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration, had said last month that the government is engaged with Pfizer and they have indicated the availability of a certain amount of vaccine in the coming months, possibly starting in July.

“We are looking at what their expectations from the government are and they are looking at what our expectations from them are,” Paul said, adding they have requested indemnity to all the nations including the country of origin.

The NITI Ayog member (Health) also said that the government is also examining the request and will take a decision in the larger interest of people and on merits.

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-Top News COVID-19 India News

India to begin Sputnik V production in Aug

India’s envoy to Russia says, 65-70% of Sputnik produced anywhere in the world will be from India, reports Asian Lite News

In a development that could potentially boost India’s vaccination campaign, Sputnik V’s local production is expected to start by August, said Indian envoy to Russia DB Venkatesh Verma.

According to him, of the total Sputnik V vaccines in the world, 65-70% would be India-made.

Talking about the Covid-19 vaccine arrangement between India and Russia, Verma said that 1,50,000 plus 60,000 doses of Sputnik have been supplied to India so far and by the end of May, 3 million doses will be supplied in bulk.

The supply of vaccines is expected to hit 5 million by June and the production of the vaccine in India is expected to begin by August, he added.

“Sputnik will be produced in India in three phases. First, supply from Russia – fully made – which has already started. Second, RDIF will send to India in bulk. It will be ready for use but it will have to be filled in various bottles in India. Third, the Russian side will transfer the technology to the Indian company and the Indian company will produce it fully in India. All these three phases put together will be about 850 million doses,” said Verma in St Petersburg.

He announced that Russia has also proposed another Covid-19 vaccine named ‘Sputnik Light’. The regulatory approvals for that in India are still not completed but once those regulatory approvals are given, Sputnik Light will be one more area of cooperation between India and Russia, he added.

Amid the pandemic, both India and Russia have cooperated with each other with New Delhi sending hydroxychloroquine to the country last year, while this year Moscow sent two planes full of aid amid the second deadly wave of the Covid pandemic in India.

Detailing the situation on account of the Covid pandemic, the envoy said, “the situation is coming under control.”

On the black fungus crisis, he said, India is in “touch with the Russian authorities if they can supply some medicines” related to the treatment of the illness.

When asked about the proposed supply of S-400 missiles to India from Russia, Verma said, “In the last quarter of 2021, the contract will start to be implemented. We have a team in Russia that’s part of the training program for the crew that will be operating the systems, they are already in Russia for training.”

Sputnik’s supply to Centre

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories plans to supply Sputnik V to the government only when local production begins, an official from the pharma firm had recently said.

“The 50% allocation to government’s demand happens once the domestic manufacturing by Indian companies starts. For the imported product, at the moment, it is our intent to serve as wide a population as possible,” said Sauri Gudlavalleti, Dr Reddy’s head of integrated product development organization.

Besides supplies to the central government, even distribution across the country in major cities is likely to take about two months as the company progressively looks at conducting pilot tests for cold storage, Gudlavalleti said.

(Credit: India News Network)

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News

Companies scale up Remdesivir production

Meanwhile, Department of Pharmaceuticals intensified monitoring of availability, production and supply of drugs used for Covid-19 treatment in early April, as number of cases of Covid-19 started increasing steeply…reports Asian Lite News.

All seven domestic licensed manufacturers of Remdesivir have scaled up production from 38 lakh vials per month to nearly 119 lakh vials per month, following government directives, an official statement said.

With accelerated approval of 38 additional manufacturing sites, the number of approved manufacturing sites of Remdesivir in the country has increased from 22 to 60. With the help of the Ministry of External Affairs, the manufacturers are being facilitated for getting supplies of requisite raw materials and equipment from foreign countries.

Meanwhile, Department of Pharmaceuticals intensified monitoring of availability, production and supply of drugs used for Covid-19 treatment in early April, as number of cases of Covid-19 started increasing steeply.

Remdesivir is a patented drug, manufactured in India under voluntary licenses granted by patent holder Gilead Life Sciences US to seven Indian pharmaceutical companies –Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Hetero, Jubilant Pharma, Mylan, Syngene and Zydus Cadila.

According to the statement, all efforts are being made to enhance the availability of the drug, both through imports as well as augmented domestic production. Exports of Remdesiver have been prohibited since April 11, while customs duty has been exempted on Remdesivir injection, Remdesivir API and Beta Cyclodextrin (SBEBCD) used in its manufacture with effect from April 20.
After the demand surged, the Central government has been making allocations to states and UTs since third week of April. Interim allocation of 11 lakh vials was made for 19 states and UTs with high demand on April 21 for period up to April 30. This allocation was increased to 16 lakh vials on April 24 as more supplies became available. In a series of allocations issued subsequently, with latest on May 16, 76 lakh vials in total have been allocated among states for period up to May 23.

The state governments and UT administrations have been asked to monitor proper distribution within their jurisdiction, covering both government as well as private hospitals, and in line with judicious use as advised in the “National Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult Covid-19 patients”, issued jointly by the AIIMS/ICMR Covid-19 National Task Force and Joint Monitoring Group of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

All the seven Indian manufacturers have been making supplies to states as per the allocation both against government purchase orders and also through their private distribution channels in states. A total of 54.15 lakh vials of Remdesivir have been supplied across the country by the drug companies during April 21-May 15, the statement said.

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-Top News COVID-19 India News

India to produce 9 crore vaccine doses by June

AstraZeneca vaccine
According to the plan submitted by Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute the pharma majors plan to raise production to 7.82 crore and 10 crore doses respectively by August, reports Asian Lite News

India’s vaccine production is likely to reach eight crore doses in May and 9 crore doses in June. Presenting their plans on Covid-19 vaccine production in the next coming months, both Pune’s Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech said they are ramping up their monthly production capacity.

In a meeting on Wednesday with seven states/UTs which are lagging behind in terms of vaccinating people against Covid-19, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said both the vaccine majors are will double their output.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

According to the plan, Bharat Biotech is all set to raise the production of Covaxin to 3.32 crore doses in July and 7.82 crore in August. Serum Institute aims at increasing the production up to 10 crore doses in August.

Apart from Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech facility, three public sector companies, including Mumbai’s Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, Hyderabad’s Indian Immunologicals Limited and Bulandshah’s Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Limited, have been given the nod to produce Covaxin.

In April this year, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) had announced financial support to four firms including Bharat Biotech International and Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, to ramp up production of the indigenously-developed Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.

Among the grants, Bharat Biotech, the co-developer of the vaccine, would get Rs 65 crore to repurpose its new Bengaluru facility to increase the capacity of Covaxin production, while Maharashtra state-owned Haffkine will also be provided around Rs 65 crore for setting up a facility to make the inactivated vaccine.

Apart from these two companies, two more public sector undertakings Indian Immunologicals Ltd and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Ltd will also be getting funds to produce 10-15 million dozes per month by August or September.

The Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Dr. Vinod K. Paul along with the DG, ICMR, Dr. Balram Bhargava addressing a press conference on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19 (Including Vaccination), in New Delhi on May 13, 2021. The Principal Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, Shri Jaideep Bhatnagar and the Joint Secretary, MoHFW, Shri Lav Agarwal are also seen. (PIB)

Meanwhile, the pace of vaccination has got stymied in some states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi as they do not have adequate vaccines to inoculate both the population below 45 and above 45, simultaneously. Since the administration of the second doses is of priority, the states are mulling halting the vaccination of the people between the age group of 18 to 44 years.

The Centre on Tuesday appealed to states to prioritise vaccinating those due for second dose of Covid-19 vaccine and reserve at least 70 per cent of the shots supplied from the central pool for the purpose. States have also been urged to minimise wastage of vaccine doses, the health ministry said in a statement.

All wastage more than the national average hereafter is to be adjusted from the subsequent allocations to that state or union territory.

India clocks 3.62L fresh cases

Meanwhile, India on Thursday reported 3,62,727 new Covid cases and 4,120 fatalities, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

On Wednesday, India recorded 4,205 fresh Covid deaths, while on Friday last, the country had recorded its highest ever cases of 4,14,188.

In the past 21 days India’s daily Covid tally has plateaued over the three-lakh-mark and over 3,000 casualties for a fortnight.

India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,37,03,665 with 37,10,525 active cases and 2,58,317 deaths so far.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 3,52,181 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, with 1,97,34,823 being cured from Covid till date.

The Health Ministry said that a total of 17,72,14,256 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 18,94,991 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 30,94,48,585 samples have been tested up to May 12 for Covid-19. Of these 18,64,594 samples were tested on Wednesday.

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